Hope
by Yuechum
Summary: Flames were beautiful things. They had been drawn to that same warmth, but flames had no use in a corpse.


Hello! Here is another Katekyo Hitman Reborn one-shot, focusing on the guardians on Tsuna's death. I hope you enjoy, thank you for reading!

* * *

While the guardians did not have the Hyper Intuition that Tsuna possessed, they felt the slithering sense of unease in their hearts when he sent them all out on missions far away from each other and their boss.

"Tenth, I don't think this would be the best. Vongola is unstable right now, so we should be all together-" Hayato had tried to reason with Tsuna once, but it was futile on stubborn ears.

"Do you trust me, Hayato?" His eyes had shone with an amber glow, his resolve sparking the flames within him. (He hasn't needed the Dying Will Pills in years, but it still shook Hayato when he saw those flames within his eyes, seeing if he could refuse, but ultimately knowing he couldn't. And Hayato would think how selfish Tsuna could be.)

"Of course Tenth. You know I trust you more than anything," Hayato spoke quietly, feeling his energy deplete with his apprehension.

And Tsuna smiled, "Trust me again on this one, Hayato. I'll protect this family, no matter what."

Hayato never thought that no matter what would be seeing Tsuna's dead body, blood pooling around him at the hands of a Millefiore sniper. The other guardians hadn't been able to arrive earlier, but Hayato's message couldn't be more clear. The Tenth is dead.

The Vongola Family cried that night.

* * *

When Ryohei arrived back to the Vongola base, he was quickly ushered into the medical ward to help treat the members of Vongola who had fought against the Millefiore. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration but his hands trembled, his flames flickering in his grief.

In the hallways of the medical ward that had grown silent, Ryohei sat alone, looking at his bandaged hands, shaking and trembling.

"Why couldn't I have come earlier?" But Ryohei knew that Tsuna had sent him far so he wouldn't be able to heal him. He wouldn't make it on time, and Tsuna knew that from the beginning.

"Why didn't I refuse his order?" Ryohei was a simple man, his fondness for Tsuna had him gleaming, smiling at the man he called his little brother. He trusted him, because Tsuna had been a simple man too. But Tsuna had changed with the times, and Ryohei hadn't.

"Why...couldn't I save him?" Ryohei was a capable healer, his resolve to protect fed his flames, warm to the touch and bright to the eyes. But Tsuna was a dead man when he arrived, blood falling from his lips, a bullet in his chest. No one could save him at that point.

He paused when he heard the soft sobs a few steps away. Lambo had tried to be quiet, to be invisible, to hide away from the cruel reality. Ryohei stood, and released the tension from his body. The sun flames, he believed, were capable of not only healing physical wounds, but emotional wounds as well. As Tsuna's sun guardian, and their elder brother, he had a duty to fulfill.

* * *

Lambo had seen Tsuna as an elder brother, one who cared for him, protected him, and even spoiled him. He felt love from the boy he hadn't expected to, and he found himself clinging to ensure he wouldn't leave. (It had been futile in the end, because Tsuna had left to a place where he would never return.)

He grew up with Tsuna, learning his habits, always looking up at his elder brother who shone with the brilliance of his flames that mesmerized him. He had wanted to do the same, wanted to show Tsuna that he was capable of being his lightning guardian even when he didn't truly understand what the title meant. The Ten Year Bazooka had always assisted him in switching with his future self to win the battles that he could not. He would have loved the bazooka for it, if only he hadn't been sent to a world where Vongola had only looked at him with pity. (Pity for what he would have to face, he would realize later.)

He would always look for Tsuna in the world of the future, until one of the guardians would console him, shaking their head gently. Not right now, Lambo. Not right now. And Lambo would wonder just when it would be time to find Tsuna. But the guardians would just kiss his forehead, and time would be up. His eyes landed on the relieved Tsuna of his time, and he jumped to hug him tightly, to relieve the pain in his heart that he didn't understand yet.

How he understood now, he understood so deeply that sobs continued to shake his body uncontrollably. Vongola members were gathering to transport Tsuna's coffin to a quiet, serene opening in the forest, but the guardians were absent. They couldn't bear seeing Tsuna, pale and still, surrounded by the endless white flowers in a stark black coffin. The red they had seen on him was revolting, but the white had them screaming that this was all wrong.

As the youngest guardian, he cried and cried for himself, the family, and for Tsuna. He thought of how I-Pin and Fuuta were crying as well, screaming to the world for taking away their elder brother that had given the children of the mafia a happy childhood they otherwise would have never received.

It was a relief when Ryohei had embraced him, because he couldn't stand being alone in this hallway that was just as white as Tsuna's corpse.

* * *

Takeshi was far too reminded of his close encounter to death. He remembers vividly looking at his feet, close to the edge that a single step would change his fate. Students only looked at him in fear, never coming closer, in greater fear that they would fall. Takeshi sneered then, laughing at how weak their bonds of friendship were. But Tsuna had ran up to him, pleading with him to live. Takeshi had been surprised, wondering why someone who he had never considered was helping him now. He didn't have his flames like he would later at the time, but his eyes glowed with something that Takeshi wanted to explore. He would have taken his hand, if he hadn't fell backwards. He remembers thinking that his last sight was a pleasant one, and that he was content despite it all. But Tsuna had saved him, risking his own life to save someone he didn't even know. Takeshi would never forget how grateful he was.

With his father's death and Tsuna's death closely after, Takeshi was reminded once more of how easily he could change his fate. His sword twirled in his hand, and he smiled bitterly at his reflection in the pond. He was dressed in traditional Japanese clothing, wondering if he could run across the lands like a warrior of the past to find Tsuna. He raised his sword to his neck, admiring the shine to the sword that had been an oceanic blue before.

"Your flames are beautiful. Look at your sword," Tsuna had once said with a small smile playing on his lips. The flames had wrapped themselves around the sword, dancing with the moonlight like the waves of a sea at night. Takeshi had laughed bashfully then, ruffling Tsuna's hair.

Takeshi sighs, and puts the sword down to the edge of the pond and closes his eyes. When he opens them next, he sees the full moon above him, and he thinks that Tsuna would love to see the dance of his flames again. He can't show him if he's dead, so he stands up to find his resolve once more.

* * *

Mukuro and Chrome had always felt like outsiders despite the ring they shared. Like the mist, they drifted in and out of the family, suddenly here, laughing and teasing, but suddenly there, out doing things that Tsuna never questioned. Tsuna was an anchor for them to the real world, where they wouldn't drift to the world of their illusions, tempted by the beauty of a fantasy. Without him, they could have danced across a meadow of flowers that didn't exist in reality, but instead, they were lured by Tsuna's hand that was outreached to the both of them.

"Won't you two become my mist guardians?" Tsuna had asked shyly once, making Mukuro snicker and Chrome blush. But nevertheless, they accepted wholeheartedly.

But reality had given them a pain they didn't want to experience. They both saw Tsuna's limp body, not a hint of flame remaining, leaving a cold body for them to see. Mukuro had asked if he should make an illusion of Tsuna for them, but Chrome had refused.

"It wouldn't be right," Chrome had said, with tears falling from her eye. Mukuro had never understood human sentimentality, but in this moment, he agreed.

They both vanish to a place where the rest of the guardians can't follow. With Mukuro's physical body remaining in the hands of the Vindice, he follows Chrome in their world of illusions, trying to cope with a pain they both didn't understand. But the guardians believe they both were there for the funeral, feeling the presence of two souls crying for the brother they loved.

* * *

Kyoya as the cloud guardian had always been aloof, stepping away from the liveliness of a crowd, the noises, and the tears. When the Vongola Family cried that night, Kyoya had moved away quietly, choosing instead to remain on a balcony where the moonlight danced on his skin.

"They don't know," Kyoya would think. Tsuna had entrusted him with this plan, to remain quiet about his death. Soon, he would see the younger versions of themselves, hopelessly clueless about the world in front of them, but shining with a hope that they had lost. Tsuna was betting on that being the key to victory, going so far as to sacrifice himself for it. Kyoya hated him for it.

His eyes followed the movements of the fireflies, so free, that Kyoya nearly envied them. He felt burdened by it all, but he felt grief as the most prominent. The plan was not guaranteed to be successful, Shoichi reminding them before Tsuna had left for the meeting with Millefiore. His body could move from his current state to a permanent death, and their younger selves would have suffered for nothing.

Kyoya let out a soft sigh, hoping for the first time in years, that this plan would work. While he remained aloof and apathetic, he cared for Tsuna who had grown to be a brother, a sparring partner that thrilled him to his core. Seeing his death, even when he knew this would happen the way it did, hurt him in a quiet, chilling way only death could.

He moved away from the balcony, standing outside the door of the room the guardians were in, offering a silent, steady support to his family.

* * *

The funeral had been swift, the guardians having no more tears to be shed. They stared resolutely ahead, and vowed to Tsuna that they would protect the family no matter what. But when they saw the younger Tsuna, their hearts beat with an excitement and worry for what would happen next.

For the first time in months, they were hopeful.


End file.
